More Money, More Problems
by lovetheblazer
Summary: It was bad enough that Gus had forced Shawn to accompany him to the bank at 9 am on a Saturday. But then they were taken hostage, Juliet was recognized as a cop, and everything went to hell. Lots of Shules hurt/comfort, angst, and romance.
1. Hold on Hope

**Title: More Money, More Problems**

**Chapter: 1 – Hold on Hope**

**Characters/Pairings: Shawn Spencer, Juliet O'Hara, Shules Pairing, Burton Guster, Henry Spencer, Carlton Lassiter, Chief Karen Vick, & Buzz McNab**

**Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Romance, Whump, & Fluff**

**Chapter Word Count: 2,383 words**

**Rating: PG-13**

**Warnings: Violence, Character Injury, Discussion of Medical Procedures, Sexual Banter, Profanity**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Psych or any of its characters. This is a work of fiction and all the characters are property of USA and Steve Franks. **

**Spoiler Alert: Takes place after 3x15 "Truer Lies" but before 3x16 "An Evening with Mr. Yang." Spoilers through 3x15 including direct references to 3x8 "Gus Walks Into a Bank." Pre-Abigail relationship and pre-Juliet's confession of love to Shawn at the drive-in move theater after the events of "An Evening with Mr. Yang."**

**Summary: It was bad enough that Shawn was up at 9 am on Saturday to accompany Gus to the bank. But then the gunman showed up and recognized Juliet as a cop and everything went to hell. Lots of Shules h/c, angst, and romance. **

"Wake me up before you go-go, take me dancing tonight. I want to hit that HIIIIGGHHH," Shawn sang along with his iPod, his voice cracking slightly as he reached for the high note. It was a beautiful fall day in Santa Barbara with the air seeming so cool and crisp it practically crackled with electricity. Shawn yawned for the tenth time as he cruised the interstate on his motorcycle heading towards the bank. It was much too early for Shawn to be up, on a Saturday no less, but Shawn owed Gus one. "_More like a million," _Shawn thought to himself though he'd have never admitted it to Gus. After being held hostage at the bank last year, Gus insisted that Shawn be an equal partner when it came to the business side of their agency. "O_r was that bid-ness side?" _Shawn thought with a snort of laughter.

Gus had been working late all week and hadn't made it to the bank in order to deposit the last three checks from the Chief for department cases. Given that their Psych account was dangerously low (mostly due to Shawn springing for a cotton candy machine on E-bay last month, a totally necessary business expense he'd claimed), they needed to deposit the checks ASAP or risk getting their cable shut off again due to nonpayment. Gus didn't trust Shawn to deposit the checks on his own without stealing some of the funds to buy a snow-cone machine, electric pineapple corer, or other ridiculously unnecessary gadget, but he also refused to go to the bank on his own after last year's hostage scare. That meant that he insisted on meeting Shawn at the bank at 9 am sharp on Saturday and bribed him to come with the promise of treating him to pineapple crepes at _Yolk_, the brunch spot next door. "_Those crepes better be good," _Shawn thought..

Shawn pulled up to the bank at 9:15. "_Not bad," _he thought to himself. "_Only 15 minutes late." _After parking next to the Blueberry Echo, he slid off his bike helmet, slipped on his shades David Caruso-CSI Miami style and headed towards the front entrance. He stopped short when he saw a beautiful blonde sipping coffee on the front patio of _Yolk_ and flipping through a romance novel.

"Hey Jules," he said in what he hoped was a low, seductive murmur. Jules startled at the sound of his familiar nickname for her and dropped the paperback to the table, blushing furiously. "Hey," she said, trying and failing to sound casual.

"Jules, Jules...there's no need to be embarrassed. I myself have read _Tall, Dark, and Deadly_ six times. I especially like the part where Ricardo scoops Isabella into his arms and tells her how much he needs her touch." Shawn rambled on, barely stopping to take a breath. "Did I ever tell you about the summer I spent in Maine working as a model for romance novel covers? They may have had to draw on the abs of steel, but I assure you that the rest of the picture is all me if you know what I mean,"Shawn said with a wink.

Juliet shook her head in mock horror while trying to suppress a giggle. "Shawn, I'm going to pretend that whole conversation never happened. What are you doing up and about so early?" Juliet asked.

"Well, my business partner insists that I am physically present to observe him deposit our checks, not to mention the fact that he needs my psychic powers to ensure that there are no more unhinged men hiding out in the bank waiting to take him hostage."

As if on cue, Gus peeked his head out the front door and gestured furiously for Shawn to join him inside. "Well Jules, that's my cue. Might I entice you to join us? I hear that they give out delicious suckers to their patrons," Shawn tempted teasingly.

"Thanks for the offer Shawn, but I think I'm going to stay right here and finish up my coffee," Juliet replied, taking a long sip from the steaming mug in front of her.

"Suit yourself, Jules,"Shawn said with a smile, his lips curling a bit as he imagined her eagerness to get back to the steamy sex scene that he was sure was on the next page of her tawdry romance novel.

Shawn sauntered into the bank taking in Gus's furious expression and trying (and failing) to suppress a grin. "Shawn, do you realize you are almost 25 minutes late?" Gus fumed before directing them both to the line for the bank teller.

Outside on the patio of _Yolk_, Juliet was about to resume her novel when she saw a flash of bright blue in the periphery of her vision. Without thinking, she lifted her head to see the owner of blue sweater and nearly gasped when she saw his face. He was tall, muscled, with closely cropped hair, and bright blue eyes that rivaled the blue (or was it cerulean?) tint of his sweater. However, it was the scar that ran from his temple to his jaw that demanded her attention. She had seen that scar before. But where? Without knowing exactly why, Juliet found herself tossing a few dollars on the table to pay for her coffee and got up from her brunch spot and began to follow the man in the blue sweater, her police instincts screaming at her that this man was up to no good.

He crossed the street and headed for the front door of the bank, looking as if he was a man on a mission. As Juliet followed him from a safe distance, she began mentally scanning her current case files looking for a match, but none of the suspects seemed to fit. _"Wait, there was that aggravated robbery case from a few months ago!"_ she thought with a jolt of recognition. The assailant or assailants had started out by robbing a string of convenience stores before moving up to banks and retail stores, always at gunpoint. As the crimes had escalated, so had the level of violence and while no one had been killed yet, Juliet and Lassiter had privately speculated that it was only a matter of time before these robbers made their first kill. But that would mean... _"Oh god, Shawn and Gus...I've got to get in there!" _Juliet thought in panic, reaching into her small purse to remove her service pistol, carefully tucking it into the back waistband of her jeans out of sight before pushing open the bank door, trying to look as casual as possible as she entered so as not to cue the suspect that she was on to him.

Juliet had just located Shawn and Gus near the front of the line and was headed towards them when she was stopped short by the sound of a warning shot being fired overhead by the assailant in the blue sweater.

"This is a hold-up. Everyone down on the ground and no one gets hurt. I want cell phones, wallets, and valuables now. Drop them in front of you and then face down on the ground. If anyone tries to play hero or call the cops, I will shoot. And I never miss," said the man warningly, his blue eyes gleaming with a slightly evil glint that suggested that he was definitely not lying about shooting to kill.

The assailant turned to the bank tellers, directing them to empty out their tills into several large canvas bags before taking a survey of the hostages, ensuring that each was following his directions to the letter. Shawn gave Gus a reassuring pat on the shoulder as the gunmen passed them by after collecting Gus's company phone, something Shawn knew that he'd have to hear about from Gus for weeks or even months to come. Assuming that they all got out of here in one piece, that was...

Shawn's eyes carefully tracked the gunmen around the room, trying to take in every detail so that he could find something that might help get all of the hostages out of the bank in one piece. Shawn's eyes widened when he saw the gunmen pause next to a petite blonde whose hands were shaking so badly that she was having trouble unhooking the clasp on her watch in order to remove it. _"Jules!" _thought Shawn_. "Jesus, what is she doing here? I don't want her in the middle of this," _Shawn continued to think worriedly. He turned to Gus who had also noticed Juliet's presence by this point.

"Shit, Gus. I hope she doesn't have her badge or gun on her. If they find out she's a cop...she's...we're all in big trouble," Shawn whispered. "What do we do? Should I try to create a diversion?"

"You must be out of your damn mind, Shawn," Gus whispered back fiercely. "Let's hope Juliet _does_ have her gun on her and maybe she can help get our asses out of here. We should just do what the guy says and he'll let us go. He wants the money, not us. Just don't do anything stupid, okay? You might end up getting Juliet killed instead of helping her."

Shawn ran a hand through his hair haphazardly, thinking hard, his eyes never leaving Juliet's. She looked up and he caught her eye, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "It's going to be okay," he mouthed to her.

Juliet managed a weak smile and a nod in return, her body relaxing slightly. The assailant gathered Juliet's valuables and had just stepped past her to collect the personal belongings of his next hostage, when he suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowing as he noticed a small bulge beneath the woman's cardigan at the small of her back. His eyes widened in recognition and suddenly his bright blue eyes were as flat and unforgiving as a snake's. He grabbed the woman's arm and pulled hard, yanking her to her feet roughly. He gestured to his accomplice who was dressed as a bank security guard. "Get over here now! We got a problem."

"I know you, lady. You're a cop." The assailant's eyes narrowed threateningly as he pointed his gun at Juliet's trembling form. Shawn was watching the entire scene in mute horror, before deciding that he needed to act to diffuse the situation quickly. He slowly climbed to his feet, his hands raised in a non-threatening signal of surrender. He began to slowly advance towards Juliet, wanting to put his body between hers and the gunman's.

Just then, a noise sounded behind them as a hostage jumped up from the floor and dived for the gunman's accomplice, attempting to wrestle his cell phone away from the second gunman in order to call for help. Immediately, the assailant raised his gun higher, pointing it directly at Juliet's chest. Juliet instinctively reached for the small pistol tucked into the back waistband of her jeans, attempting to outdraw the gunman. In the split second in which this all took place, Shawn traced the set of the gunman's jaw, the twitch of his trigger finger, and finally the path of the bullet that was about to be released from the shooter's gun, registering with dread that it would be a direct hit to Juliet's aorta, a wound that would no doubt kill her instantly. Without thinking, Shawn dived in front of Juliet, knocking them both to the ground in the process as the sound of a single gunshot rang out, echoing off the marbled floors and walls eerily.

**End Chapter Note: I know, I know... It is evil of me to end on a cliffhanger like this. But I have a good reason for doing it, I swear, which is where all of you come in. I've got two versions of this story outlined. In one version, Shawn takes the bullet for Juliet and Shawn whump and Shules hurt/comfort ensues. In the second version, Shawn isn't fast enough and Juliet still winds up being shot, although his quick action keeps it from being a direct and lethal hit to her aorta, and instead it becomes a more survivable gunshot wound. In this version, they are all held hostage for several more hours and Shawn has to take care of Juliet and keep her awake and alert until they can get help. Of course, Shawn also ends up plotting to outsmart the gunmen and save the day. I really like both versions of the story as they both progress the Shules relationship but in different and interesting ways. So, since I can't decide, I've decided to put it to a vote. Please cast your vote via review for which version you most want to read. I'll tally the votes on here, , and the psychfiction LiveJournal community and will post the next chapter later this week based on the plot point with the most votes. Thanks for reading and can't wait to see which plot point you will choose! **


	2. A Moment in Time

**Summary: It was bad enough that Gus had forced Shawn to accompany him to the bank at 9 am on a Saturday. But then they were taken hostage, Juliet was recognized as a cop, and everything went to hell. Lots of Shules hurt/comfort, angst, and romance.**

**Warnings: Violence, Character Injury, Discussion of Medical Procedures, Sexual Banter, Profanity. Rated Teen (PG-13)**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately **_**still **_**do not own Psych or any of its characters. This is a work of fiction and all the characters are property of USA and Steve Franks. **

**Spoiler Alert: Takes place after 3x15 "Truer Lies" but before 3x16 "An Evening with Mr. Yang." Spoilers through 3x15 including direct references to 3x8 "Gus Walks Into a Bank." Pre-Abigail relationship and pre-Juliet's confession of love to Shawn at the drive-in move theater after the events of "An Evening with Mr. Yang."**

**Author Note: Wow, thanks for the warm response to the new fic! I especially need to thank lala, ursookrazie, lily22, thewarpedmind1, anon, SamanthaLeigh422, forensicmusings, Jacey, xpsychxssjs, Red Pen Ninja, soccergirlalltheway, CheechHatesClowns, Maggie, greysanatomyfreak, Tango Eitght, and ButtercupluvsJACE for their lovely reviews and all the rest of you who favorited the story or signed up for alerts. **

**Read on to see who takes the bullet. I don't want to spoil it here, but I'll exaplain my rationale in the chapter end note. Thanks to all of you who voted for which outcome you wanted to see.**

_**In the split second in which this all took place, Shawn traced the set of the gunman's jaw, the twitch of his trigger finger, and finally the path of the bullet that was about to be released from the shooter's gun, registering with dread that it would be a direct hit to Juliet's aorta, a wound that would no doubt kill her instantly. Without thinking, Shawn dived in front of Juliet, knocking them both to the ground in the process as the sound of a single gunshot rang out, echoing off the marbled floors and walls eerily.**_

Shawn's ears were ringing from the sound of the bullet fired at close range, making it difficult for him to hear anything else except for the sound of Juliet's ragged breathing beneath him. He continued to cover her body protectively with his as they lay in a tangled heap against the unforgivingly cold marble floor, Shawn's body tense in expectation of another round of gunfire.

Suddenly, Shawn was jerked roughly from the ground to his feet by a harsh grip on his shoulder. His eyes widened in alarm as he realized that the assailant was holding a gun flush against his temple. Juliet's gun. The one that had clattered to the ground before she could take a single shot. The one that was now in the hands of the gunman, leaving Shawn and Juliet with no way to defend themselves.

"What the fuck, dude? You want to get shot? You a cop too?" the man in the blue sweater asked menacingly. As he was speaking, his partner regained control of the hostage who had triggered the whole chain of events and hit him harshly across the back of the head with the butt of his gun, causing the hostage to slump unconscious to the floor.

Shawn's eyes scanned the room desperately, looking for something, anything, that he could use to get Jules out of the situation alive. His eyes found Gus who was struggling just to keep from passing out in fear. Gus's eyes widened as he looked at Shawn, his eyes seemingly drawn to Shawn's right shoulder. Shawn looked down to see that his white and blue plaid button down shirt was stained darkly with blood, the heaviest concentration seeming to spread from the area between his chest and right shoulder. Shawn lifted his arm experimentally, expecting to feel a searing burn that could only signal a gunshot wound. But Shawn was shocked to find that his shoulder was pain free and maintained complete range of motion. He'd heard that shock could block out the pain from a severe injury like a gunshot wound, but he doubted that even shock could account for this response. If he hadn't been shot, then that would mean... _"Oh god, Jules!" _Shawn thought as his eyes went back to the beautiful detective slumped on the floor, noticing for the first time the blood that was quickly spreading across the pale pink of her button down shirt.

"Hey idiot! I'm talking to you. Do you want me to shoot you? Or maybe I should just shoot your girlfriend again?" the gunman spit out.

Shawn was shaken from his panicked thoughts by the threat the assailant was making. Juliet was hurt badly and needed help. It was unlikely that she'd survive a second gunshot wound, especially when the gunman was firing at such close range. No, Shawn needed to convince the gunman that Juliet was no longer a threat and fast before someone else got hurt.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, pal. I'm not a cop. I'm a psychic. And you've already shot my friend once, so she's no threat to you, okay? Look, my dad was a cop so I get it. I've never been very good at following rules so I get why you want her gone. But trust me when I say that you don't want a dead hostage on your hands. The second that the SBPD finds out that you've shot one of their own, any negotiating power that you have goes out the window. They get one whiff of this and they're coming in with a SWAT team and tear gas, count on it. Why don't you let me take care of her and keep her alive while you get back to collecting your money and coming up with an exit strategy, alright?" Shawn blurted all these things out in a rush, too panicked about Juliet to keep his fear at bay.

"How do I know you aren't a cop? You seem to be awfully attached to your girl here. Is she your partner or something?" the gunman asked suspiciously.

"No man, she's just a friend. To be honest..." Shawn started, looking back to Juliet's motionless form before deciding to throw caution to the wind and be totally honest for once, a relatively new experience for him. "To be honest...I've been in love with her for years now, but I've never told her how I feel. I just care about her and don't want to see her get hurt, but I also want you to get what you want from the SBPD so that all of the hostages, myself included, make it out of here alive." Shawn drew a deep breath, trying to quell the outpouring of emotion that continued to rise up and threatened to overtake him at any moment. "Listen, can I help her? If I don't get that bleeding under control, she doesn't have long."

The gunman rolled his eyes but appeared to be considering Shawn's offer. "How are you going to help her? You're a psychic, not a doctor."

"True, but I've had 237 jobs in the last ten years including paramedic, fire fighter, and chiropractor. I can help her. Please, just let me do what I've been trained to do, okay?" Shawn asked, trying not to sound as if he was as desperate as he felt.

With an exasperated sigh, the gunman acquiesced. "Fine, take care of your little girlfriend. But just keep in mind that if either of you try anything, I'll put a bullet in both of your brains in an instant. I won't even have to think twice about it."

Shawn nodded as he dropped to his knees beside Juliet. Her skin was a chalky pale white and her eyes were closed, her whole face tensed in pain. Shawn gently brought a hand to her temple, stroking her hair as he called out to her.

"Juliet? Jules, are you okay? Hey, I need you to look at me, okay? Come on Jules, open your eyes," Shawn spoke softly as he tried to rouse Juliet from her current semi-conscious state.

Slowly, Juliet began to stir, her forehead crinkling in pain as she slowly opened her eyes to look up at Shawn. Shawn continued to hold his breath as he waited for her to respond, trying hard not to see the crimson that continued to spread across her chest.

"Mhmm, Shawn?" Juliet gasped out. "Oh god...hurts," she moaned.

Shawn felt as if someone had punched him in the gut at the sound and sight of Juliet in so much pain. He could only imagine how she had to be feeling. He continued to stroke her hair as he spoke, hoping to reassure her with his physical touch.

"I know, Jules. I know. It's going to be okay. We're going to get you out of here, I promise. Just stay with me," Shawn blurted out in a rush. A million thoughts were running through his head at once. He knew he needed to get a look at Juliet's wound and see what he could do to stop the bleeding andwhat he could do to make her more comfortable in the meantime. He decided to start by moving her from the cold, hard marble floor as he noticed that she was already shivering slightly.

"Jules, I'm going to move you to my lap, okay? Then I need to take a look at your shoulder. Just hang on, honey." Shawn slid a hand under Juliet's head, moving his arm until he could support her neck and shoulders in the crook of his elbow. He slowly and carefully lifted her upper body, taking care not to disturb her injured left side as he gently lifted her upper body to his lap, resting her head and neck against his legs.

Shawn winced as Juliet let out a whimper of pain as he moved her to his lap. Once she was situated, his hand went to her cheek, wiping away a wayward tear as he spoke. "Shh Jules, it's okay. I know it hurts, sweetheart, but you're doing great. I need to look at your shoulder now to see how bad it is, alright?" Shawn asked as he watched Jules clutch her left shoulder with her uninjured right hand.

Juliet could only manage a nod. Shawn recognized this as his signal and gently reached down and pried Juliet's right hand from the wound, resting her hand against her stomach before beginning to examine her wound. He started by unbuttoning several more buttons of her pink shirt and carefully peeling the shirt back to expose the bleeding gunshot wound below, wincing in sympathy as the damp fabric stuck to the wound, causing Juliet to cry out again. Juliet's right hand involuntarily spasmed, coming to rest over her wound again as she tried helplessly to stop any movements that could cause future pain. Shawn sighed heavily and raised his head, looking until his gaze met with the worried eyes of his best friend Gus.

Shawn knew that Gus wasn't the strongest of men, particularly when it came to anything involving blood or other bodily fluids. On more than one occasion, Shawn had watched with amusement as Gus scrambled out of a crime scene only to share the contents of his stomach with the nearest bush. But Gus was also made of stronger stuff than he let on, especially when it came to helping out his friends. Gus had fought through his nausea at least five times in order to come visit Shawn in the hospital after his all too common motorcycle crashes. And right now, what Shawn (and Juliet) needed more than anything was a friend.

Shawn motioned for Gus and watched impatiently as Gus slowly crept towards Shawn and Juliet, taking care to avoid the bloodstain that marred the cold, marble floor upon which Juliet had been laid out only minutes earlier. Gus took a deep shuddering breath, looking to Juliet's face in his attempt to avoid even a glance at her injured left side.

"Oh god, Shawn... Is she...d-? Is she going to be okay?" Gus gasped, his voice shaking in fear as he took in the paleness of Juliet's complexion and her closed eyes.

Shawn's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly as he reached down to tuck a wayaward lock of hair behind Juliet's ear, nodding unconsciously to himself as he spoke. "She's hurt, but yeah...yes, she's going to be okay. I need your help, though."

Gus swallowed hard, taking another deep breath to steady himself before responding. "Oh...okay. What do you need me to do?"

Shawn motioned to Gus to move closer. "Come here..." He reached down to grasp Juliet's hand which was again clutched tightly to her wounded left shoulder. Slowly, he lifted Juliet's hand away from her wound for a second time and offered it to Gus. "Hold her hand. I need to take a look at her shoulder and see how bad the wound is, but it...it's going to hurt." His voice shook slightly as he explained his need for Gus' assistance and he was incredibly relieved when Gus simply nodded in response, taking Juliet's hand after only a small moment of hesitation.

Gus merely nodded in tacit agreement as he took Juliet's hand in both of his, gripping it tightly but quickly looking away so that he could no longer see the blood smeared across Juliet's right hand. He was surprised when he felt Juliet squeeze his hand tightly in response, indicating that she was conscious despite her pallor and stillness.

Satisifed that he had given Juliet some small measure of comfort, Shawn returned to the grim task at hand. He inhaled sharply in a wince of sympathy as he again loosened the blood-soaked fabric from Juliet's wound and received a moan of pain from Juliet in response. "Shh, I know, Jules. Just hang on, okay?" he whispered in reply as he continued to work carefully and as gently as possible.

Finally, Shawn was able to completely peel back the collar of Juliet's shirt from her wound, exposing the bleeding flesh below. At first, there was so much blood that it was difficult to see exactly where it was coming from, and Shawn raised his head briefly, looking for something that he could use to stem the flow of blood. He quickly settled on using his own blue cotton hoodie and carelessly yanked it from his arms, folding it into a makeshift bandage. Shawn began to gently dab at the blood streaming from Juliet's shoulder and chest in an attempt to visualize the bullethole below. He felt Juliet's body tense slightly as he applied pressure, but she stayed silent, the only signal of her discomfort coming from the slight clench of her jaw and the tightening of her grip on Gus' hand. Finally, Shawn cleared away enough blood in order to clearly see Juliet's injury, a medium-sized wound situated directly beneath Juliet's collarbone equidistant from her shoulder and sternum. Shawn felt his stomach clench tight in fear as he realized that the wound that he had initially thought was to Juliet's shoulder was in reality far closer to her chest, ratcheting up the severity of her injury significantly.

Shawn was still staring at the wound and trying to formulate some sort of plan when he was startled from his thoughts by the sound of Juliet's voice, barely above a whisper and shaking slightly as she spoke.

"Shawn? How...how bad?" she asked tremulously while staring up at Shawn with fearful eyes. As she studied Shawn's face looking for any hint of an answer, Juliet realized that she'd never before seen Shawn look so serious, a fact that did nothing to reassure her. However, despite her pain and fear, Juliet couldn't help but recognize that being in Shawn's arms had done much to soothe her initial panic and was the only thing keeping her somewhat sane at the moment.

Shawn sighed as he gazed back at Juliet, his brain searching frantically for the right words to comfort and reassure the injured detective. "It's going to be okay, Jules. It's bleeding...a bit, but...I don't think it hit anything...too major. I just need to put some pressure on it to stop the bleeding...but Jules...it's going to hurt," Shawn bit his lip as he tried to explain what he needed to do. "We're going to get you out of here soon, Jules but...I...we just need...you've got to stay with us, okay? Just keep your eyes open and keep talking to me. Can you do that, Jules? Please?" Shawn felt his his throat clench as he forced down tears, watching Juliet carefully and mentally pleading with her to stay conscious.

Juliet looked back at Shawn, the intensity of his stare simultaneously scaring and comforting her. She was hurting so much that it was hard to hang on. Already, she could feel the blackness clawing at the edges of her vision, just out of reach but loomingly present. Her chest seared with each small movement and breath, the pain swelling like a tide as it drew her closer and closer to unconsciousness. The thought of allowing Shawn to do anything that might increase the pain, even if only momentarily, was almost more than she could even conceive of at the moment. But she understood implicitly that the last thing that Shawn wanted to do, that the last thing Shawn would ever voluntarily do, was to hurt her. If he was asking to do this, it was necessary to help her. To save her life even. Juliet could see the struggle in Shawn's eyes at the thought of merely suggesting doing anything that could cause her additional pain. And at that moment, despite her agony and fear, Juliet had never felt more loved.

That was Juliet's last thought before she gritted her teeth, tightened her grasp on Gus' hands, and nodded her consent. The next thing she felt was a fire of pain unlike anything she had ever felt before which started in her chest but quickly rushed throughout her whole body. And just like that, Juliet's world went black. As a roaring sound not unlike a cresting wave smashing against the jagged rocks of the beach rang in her ears with increasing volume and intensity, Juliet could have sworn she heard the faintest echo of a voice. Pleading. Begging. Breaking.

"_Jules? Please... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... Oh god, Jules. Please don't leave me."_

And then there was only nothingness.

**End Chapter Note: Ahh, don't hate me for the ending (ducks out of sight). Yes, it is an evil cliffhanger, but here is something to make it a tad bit better. I promise that I'm not killing Juliet off. There, feel all better now? No? So anyways, poor Juliet takes the bullet. Between the votes here and the other sites where I posted this story, it was basically a toss-up as to whether Shawn or Juliet got shot, but I tended to agree with the reviewers who commented that Shawn takes the majority of the abuse in fics (and on screen as well), so I decided that it should be Juliet's turn. Obviously there will be a lot more hurt/comfort and angst to come in future chapters. I promise to bring in more Gus, Lassiter, and all your favorite Psych characters in upcoming chapters.**

**In response to a question that I've been asked a lot in reviews and private messages lately, namely "Are you ever going to finish your other Shules fanfic?" ("Mr. Yin Presents...Shules") the short answer is yes, I do plan to finish it some day relatively soon. The longer answer is that due to grad school and health problems and a whole mess of other personal stuff I'm not going to get into here, I stepped away from this story (and writing in general) for awhile. And when I came back, there were other fandoms and ships that were calling out to me to be written instead. But I'm really looking forward to the new season of Psych starting up soon (Shawn and Gus have been off the air way too long) and am hoping that seeing the new season (and Shawn and Jules as a couple) will give me the motivation and inspiration I need to finish up that story. So basically, give me a couple of weeks, and I should have the next chapter of Mr. Yin Presents Shules for you. And just to whet your appetite, the new chapter is entitled "Here With Me," and is very Shules heavy. Yes, I have even started writing it...**

**But more importantly, how are you liking **_**this**_** story? Are there things that you are hoping will happen in upcoming chapters? Suggestions for improvement? I want to hear it all, dear readers. **


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